Relief in Palestine Taxation Policy Must Await General Reform in Country

(J. T. A. Mail Service)

An official statement on the substitution of a land tax in Palestine for the existing system of tithe and Werko, has been issued here.

Sir E. Dowson, Commissioner of Lands, was directed to consult with the District Authorities and to report on the practicability and desirability of imposing a land tax in lieu of the present tithes and Werko payments on orange groves in advance of the general reform of taxation of agricultural land which the Government has in view. His conclusions and recommendations on this subject, with which the Government are in general agreement, are: In the Jaffa and Ramleh Sub-Districts the survey of the areas containing orange groves is virtually complete; and there should be no great difficulty in determining the owners and limits of ownership of these groves.

In the other survey areas around Caesarea and Beisan similar measures could, if necessary, be taken. Throughout the unsurveyed areas of Palestine, owners of orange groves could be required to get surveys of such groves carried out upon lines laid down by, and to the satisfaction of, the Director of Surveys.

It consequently appears that the compilation of a complete return of the areas and ownership of all orange groves throughout Palestine is quite feasible, and a land tax could be imposed on these groves as soon as such information was supplemented by the necessary valuation of the land.

If all the orange groves in Palestine were surveyed and their areas and owners tabulated, the valuation of such groves for land tax could be undertaken as soon as agreement had been reached as to the principles on which such valuation for land tax in Palestine was to be based and the methods and organization by which it was to be effected.

It therefore appears that if a genuine land tax is to be imposed on orange groves in advance of other land, a systematic valuation of such groves should be undertaken on the lines to be adopted for general application throughout the country, the statement declares:

One of the difficulties in the way of any partial substitution of a systematic and evenly distributed land tax for the Ottoman tithe and Werko is that of fixing the rate of such land tax so that it brings in the desired return to the Treasury without appearing inequitable either to those affected or to those left under the pre-existing taxes. It is generally believed and probable that these current taxes bear most unevenly on different areas. When a systematic land tax has, in due course been imposed, the extent of this unevenness will be apparent: but it cannot at present be readily demonstrated. None the less, if orange groves all over the country are given preferential treatment in regard to fiscal reform, it must be anticipated that the Government will be besieged by innumerable complaints claiming that other plantations or other classes of culture or land are by comparison unduly burdened; while holders of more favorably situated lands will keep silent. The proposed measure might satisfy the long standing and reasonable complaints of many orange growers, but it would be a miracle if it did so without provoking at least as wide a circle of new complaints. It is even unlikely that all the general mass of orange growers themselves would be satisfied, since in the nature of things the present relative taxation of orange groves is bound to be re-adjusted and although such re-adjustment may be equitable it will not be accepted as such by those who think that the owners of other groves are gaining greater advantages than themselves. This natural feeling must of course he faced when the land tax is generally substituted for tithe and werko; but it will then be an inevitable difficulty in the way of both a necessary and a comprehensive reform.

I have no hesitation in saying that any such measure of sporadic reform as that under consideration would breed more trouble that it would allay, and would certainly not be worth the labor and cost that it would entail, the Commissioner of Lands declared.

The most important objection to this or any other measure of sporadic reform is the delay and confusion it will introduce in the execution of the general and systematic reform of both the taxation of, and the settlement and registration of rights to, land throughout Palestine.

The main outlines of a practical and coherent scheme of combined reform have been formulated and accepted and are now on the eve of application. In conformity therewith, the survey has been reinforced and is now engaged in pushing forward as expeditiously as possible a general survey of the country which embodies village boundaries and the internal sub-division of villages into blocks for the triple purpose of: Enabling a general land tax to be substituted for the tithe or commuted tithe as soon as possible; Providing the means of readily and methodically locating parcels of land to which rights are registered during the necessarily lengthy period ahead of settlements; Providing the systematic basis of record and cadastral survey required for both the execution of the settlement and the subsequent maintenance of the registration of the rights thus settled.

Any advance imposition of land tax would involve an additional task of survey. The District Administration and the Land Registries, would be affected, but the most serious diversion of effort would fall on the Survey and would probably dislocate its program of work.

Whatever the difficulties and disadvantages of the consolidated tithe in general may be, this expedient should be able to meet any pressing need for fiscal reform in regard to orange groves until a general land tax is imposed in lieu of tithe throughout the plain areas. And even if the tithe records prove too unintelligible for this purpose, it is better that the orange groves should support the present tithe and werko for this additional period than that the provision of general bases of reform of land tenure and taxation throughout the country should be retarded by any partial or sporadic attempts to alleviate the position of this or any other particular agricultural interest, the statement concludes.

The Jewsh Students’ House, located on the Campus of the University of Pennsylvania was formally opened on Monday to meet the requirements of Jewish students who are compelled to return to their studies prior to the official opening of the University.

Rabbi Simon Greenberg, of Har Zion Temple is advisor of the Jewish Students’ house.